The Other Holiday Spirits
by maddie-mira
Summary: Some holiday spirits choose to stay anonymous; but occasionally they slip up. One night a spirit is discovered by a Viking, with some...unusual circumstances.


**Hi everyone! Here's a little piece I wrote off the top of my head, in honor of the holiday season. Hope you enjoy!**

As the holidays draw near, Vikings young and old dream of Odin's visit. We all know the story. Odin rides his horse, Sleipnir, through the worlds on the Wild Hunt. On Solstice Eve, Vikings leave out shoes and helmets, full of sugar and hay for Sleipnir. And for this kindness, Odin rewards them with gifts.

But I'll tell you a secret: not all gifts come from Odin and his steed. Many come from subtler beings that choose to stay unseen.

That's my kind come in. We drape ourselves in light, so that we could be the sparkle of the star on your tree, the glow from the fire or from the lanterns you hang. We lift your spirits and we sweeten your mead. We leave gifts of our own inside your boots, and often do we cross paths with Odin. What we call ourselves, I can never quite recall. It changes in each town, every village big and small. But in my favorite place, an island called Berk, we are known as the spirits of Snoggletog.

I remember one Snoggletog Eve many years ago. I came to Berk, with many of my kin. I watched as the youngest of us flew through the village, giving toys and sweets. We leave the gifting of weapons to Odin.

Finally the younger among us returned, and it was my turn. I had recently been charged with an especially important duty. Rather than delivering gifts, I would deliver blessings.

I know what you're thinking. Blessings seem like very religious things; but that is only one way to see them. Our blessings give help where people need it, no matter what they believe.

For the first time since my creation, I stole into the houses of Berk and stopped beside every person inside them. I granted peace to a child caught in a nightmare. I soothed an old woman's pains, so that she could enjoy the holidays without trouble. I planted inspiration in the mind of a man planning to propose to his sweetheart.

The last house I visited was the largest. I entered through a window, and found a couple lying in bed together. The man, a red-bearded giant of a human, had his dark-haired wife wrapped so gently in his arms. I've always wondered what a human love would be like. Is it harder to love when you're weighed down by flesh and bone?

I moved closer, and then realized the two humans were awake. I nearly fled, but then remembered they could not see me. So I stayed, and listened to them speak.

"Stoick, I can't stop worrying." The woman sat up. The blanket slipped down to her lap, revealing her very swollen belly. "We've lost so many already. If this one doesn't make it," she put a hand on her belly. "I may die of heartbreak."

"This one will make it," the man assured his wife, face soft as he looked at her. "I'm certain of it."

"How can you be so sure?" The woman's eyes begged for reassurance.

"It's just a feeling, Val. You've got to believe it will happen, and I do."

The woman smiled weakly. "Like you believe the child will be a boy?"

The man's smile was flame to his wife's flickering candle. "Exactly. This babe will make it, and he will have us both to keep him safe."

The woman leaned against her husband. "Odin help anyone who threatens him."

"That's the spirit. Now come here," the man said gently. "Let's get some sleep, so we can enjoy the festivities tomorrow."

The two of them sank back down onto the bed. The man wrapped his wife in his arms again, and pulled the blanket back over them. I waited as their breathing grew slower and softer. Well, the woman's breath softened. The man, frankly, snored like logs scraping together.

When I was sure they were asleep, I searched the room for the couple's gifts, hoping my younger kin had not skipped this house. When I found a cradle hidden beneath the light of the dying hearth, I smiled. My kin had used the light to cloak the gift until the morning, when the firelight would have gone out.

Of course, I still had my job to do. I walked to the couple's bedside, and placed a hand on the woman's belly. She did not stir, but her face was too weary for a human her age. From what she had said, I understood why. She had lost children before they could be born. Tonight she feared for the babe now growing inside of her. Yet I could feel the presence of that child, a life force that must have been growing with each passing day. There was something special about it, something I couldn't name, yet couldn't ignore.

I knelt before the woman, my hand still on her belly. "Your son will live," I told her. "And he will do great things. May he grow to be the strongest Viking of them all."

The glow of my blessing cloaked the woman's body before fading away. I felt the child kick under my hand, as if confirming my words, and smiled. My people do not have children in the way humans do, you see, so we treasure human children. "Yes, you will do great things," I whispered to the still growing babe. "Perhaps I'll even hear of them one day."

The man too worried for his child, but carried more hope for it; so I gave him a similar version of his wife's blessing. I wanted to linger a while; but my job in Berk was done. There were other places to visit before sunrise. So out the window I went, into the night, to depart with my kin.

Tonight I come again to that house, and there is another couple. And there is a dragon as well! Its scales are dark as night. As I creep inside, the dragon lifts its head and sniffs the air. Perhaps it can sense me. I put a finger to my lips, and it lays its head down again. Dragons have always accepted the extraordinary more easily than humans.

Stepping past the dragon, I examine the couple. They look so young; though they would probably mistake _me_ for a child if they saw me. I turn first to the man, and frown. He seems familiar. Peering closer, I use one hand to brush his brown hair out of his eyes. He stirs, as if feeling my touch. I am not worried. If he wakes and remembers the touch, he will think it was only a dream, or a bit of wind. But what does worry me is the turbulence I can already feel from his mind.

I press my hand against his bare forehead, intending to find out more. A rush of information appears behind my eyes, and for the first time in decades I am overwhelmed. Because this is the same child I blessed twenty-five years ago; but he is no longer a child. He has grown, and loved, and weathered many storms, and done _so much_ for his world. I let out a surprised cry and skip back from the man. My veil of invisibility slips to the floor and disappears, and I am exposed. At the same time he sits bolt upright. His eyes snap open, and he looks right at me. Not _through_ me, but _at_ me. "Who are you?" He breathes.

I am at a loss. None of the humans I have blessed have ever spotted me. "I am a…spirit of Snoggletog," I reply after several long moments.

His eyes are still wide, but he relaxes a little. "What are you doing here?"

I frown. Doesn't he know about holiday spirits? "It's Solstice Eve. I'm delivering blessings, as I do every year."

"Every year? This is just your usual job?" He speaks softly, but there is tension in his voice. "So why are you looking at me like that?"

"…Because I recognize you." I see no point in lying to him. "And I don't know how you can see me right now."

He squints at me. "What are you talking about?"

I realize I am still leaning back, and shift to balance my weight evenly on both feet. "I gave you a blessing when you were just a babe, still in your mother's womb." A smile slips across my face. "But you have made my blessing better than it was."

His eyebrows draw together. "What do you mean?"

"I blessed you with the strength to do great things. But you surpassed what I would have expected of _anyone_ , blessing or no blessing. Chief, dragon trainer, peacemaker, best friend of the alpha dragon…" I shake my head. "A little holiday blessing alone couldn't do all that."

The man seems to process this for a few moments. I am impressed that he is handling this news so well. "What's your name?" He asks finally. "I'm—"

"Hiccup, I know. As for my name…" I hesitate. "I don't know how to say it in any human language."

"So say it how you'd usually say it."

I do as Hiccup suggests, wondering what it will sound like to him. The names of my kind have been likened to small bells ringing, or so I've been told.

Whatever Hiccup hears, he seems to like it. His eyebrows rise, and he smiles a little. "That's a nice name."

I return his smile. "Thank you."

"So, um…" Hiccup puts a hand to the back of his head. "How are we even having this conversation? Aren't the spirits of Snoggletog supposed to be, you know, invisible?"

I exhale slowly, feeling sheepish. "Usually we are. We have our disguises. But I think meeting you again actually startled the invisibility off of me."

Hiccup makes a face. "Oh. Um...sorry?"

I wave his apology away. "I'm sure it isn't permanent. But…" I pause. "Are you going to spend this whole conversation asking questions?"

"I'm a curious person. And considering the situation, I think I've got plenty to be curious about right now," Hiccup counters.

"You aren't going to spend any of this conversation acting awed, or scared, or maybe thinking you're dreaming?"

Hiccup shrugs. "You got past Toothless, and even now he's not batting an eye, so I don't think I need to be scared of you. As for dreaming…I don't have the imagination to dream something like this up."

That gets a chuckle out of me, and Hiccup grins. "So, you deliver blessings?" He inquires. "That's why you're here?"

I nod. "I was working on your blessing, before you woke up."

"Oh. Well then, about that," Hiccup says slowly. "I appreciate it and all, but I'm already blessed with a lot of great stuff, and great people. Why don't you give the blessing to my wife instead?" He gestures towards the golden-haired woman lying beside him.

My gaze drifts to the woman. Her face is untroubled, as she dreams of riding atop a dragon with scales the colors of a bright rainforest bird. In her dream she carries a well-used axe, which explains the new one Odin has left by the hearth. "I already have a blessing ready for her. I can't give two blessings to the same person."

Hiccup's expression softens. "Then how about you give one to her…and one to the baby we're going to have."

My mouth drops open. Coming forward I lean past Hiccup to touch his wife's stomach; and there it is. A second life force glows softly, still connected to the woman's own life energy.

I almost laugh at the irony. The man who I blessed in the womb is asking me to bless his own unborn child. I straighten up and look at Hiccup. "What is your wife's name?"

His face softens a little more. "Astrid."

The woman stirs at the sound of her name. I am surprised that she didn't wake up sooner. "Hiccup? Babe?" She mumbles. I duck beneath the edge of the bed as she rolls to face her husband. "What's wrong?"

There is the creak of a body shifting on wood. "Everything's fine, Astrid," Hiccup says gently. "Go back to sleep."

There is more creaking, as Astrid apparently gets comfortable again. I don't know how you humans can sleep on beds made of wooden boards.

After a minute of silence, Hiccup says something else. "Hey," his voice is a whisper. "You still here?"

"I'm here," I whisper back, standing up. Then I smile, because Hiccup has Astrid wrapped in his arms, his front pressed against her back.

Hiccup looks up at me from said position. "So, will you do it? Will you bless the two of them?"

I nod. "Yes." I walk to the other side of the bed, so that I am facing Astrid. I place the tips of my fingers on her forehead, and take a minute to see what blessing would fit her best. "May your blade be sharp and your spirit unbreakable," I murmur at last.

I let that blessing sink in, and then move downwards, my hand hovering over Astrid's stomach. It is less swollen than Hiccup's mother's was, but not by much. And I really wonder what I should give this child. It already feels strong, and Hiccup and Astrid seem as though they will be capable parents. But they have also done great deeds, made names for themselves. Any child of theirs will have big shoes to fill.

The right blessing comes to me then, and I am sure my eyes light up. I place my whole hand on Astrid's stomach. "Dear child, you will be your own kind of strong. You will be the light that shines brightest in dark times, a compassionate being with a core of steel."

I lift my hand, leaving a golden handprint behind. As I watch, the light of the handprint sinks through the fabric of Astrid's nightgown, and under her skin to the child inside of her.

"Well, that was poetic." I look up, and am met with Hiccup's lopsided smile. "Thank you."

His smile grows brighter, practically lighting up the room, and it occurs to me that Hiccup would make a fine holiday spirit. "My pleasure," I answer. And I mean it.

"So, how does your whole 'spirit invisibility' thing work?" Hiccup asks, clearly ready with another round of questions. "Is it some kind of camouflage? And how often do you personally come to Berk? Are you permanently assigned to a place or places, or do you switch off? Do you coordinate with Odin about—"

I put a hand on his mouth, cutting off his flood of inquiries. "Let me and my kin have our secrets," I tell him, suppressing laughter over his enthusiasm. "We need them."

"Fine," Hiccup relents. "Can I at least tell Astrid that I met you?" He asked hopefully.

I tilt my head, considering the question. "Another little story about my kind would be a good thing. So yes. Happy Snoggletog."

His answering smile gives me a warm feeling inside. I am a holiday spirit, after all; we thrive on positive emotion. "Happy Snoggletog."

I give a last nod, and then run to the open window. A single hop, and I am through, landing lightly on the ground. I allow myself one last look inside, and see Hiccup nuzzle even closer to Astrid, his hands resting on her belly.

Closing the window shutters, I smile and take a deep breath in. Love comes in so many forms, all of them precious. I set out to find my kin; and I swear that I spot Sleipnir overhead, in glorious eight-legged flight.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 **Happy holidays! Please leave a review!**


End file.
